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It had two T2 type hangars and one B1 type. The B1 and one of the T2 hangars can still be seen on the airfield site. The T2 near the threshold of runway 21 was recently acquired by the airfield owners and after many years of industrial use is now, once more, an aircraft hangar.

The airfield covered about 600 acres (2.4 km2), and had the usual three runway configuration with perimeter track, hard standings, a brick watchtower and numerous brick and metal buildings for the aircrews and ground staff. A number of the buildings were to the east (Communal Site, Living Quarters, WAAF Quarters) and stretched to and beyond the Lissington road - a road travelled many an evening by the airmen and women who visited their favourite watering hole, the White Hart[2] at Lissington. The Sick Quarters were to the south of the airfield together with a Communal Site and Living Quarters.

Wickenby was occupied in September 1942 by No. 12 Squadron (a/c code PH) who brought with them Wellington II/III's, but during the winter of 1942/3 they converted to the Avro Lancaster. The Squadron flew the Lancaster throughout the rest of the war. On 7 November 1943, C Flight was expanded to become 626 Squadron (a/c code UM), also flying the Lancaster. Wickenby played a large part in the bomber offensive, taking part in many of the major raids including: Berlin, Munich, Nuremberg, Essen, Mailly-le-Camp, and Caen. Aircraft from Wickenby were also involved in mine-laying (gardening), and operations Manna and Exodus. On 24 September 1945, 12 Squadron moved to a more permanent site at Binbrook.

12 Squadron still exists to this day flying Tornado aircraft out of Lossiemouth. Having spent its entire existence at Wickenby, 626 Squadron was disbanded on 14 October 1945. The base was later taken over by No. 93 Maintenance Unit[3] and subsequently No. 92 Maintenance Unit[4] who used the runways to dismantle ordnance until 1956 when the base was closed. Civil aviation and maintenance began in 1963, and the land was sold between 1964-6. During the relatively short period of active service 1,080 lives were lost from RAF Wickenby. This sacrifice is commemorated by the RAF Wickenby Memorial[5] in the form of Icarus on an obelisk at the entrance to the airfield. The memorial was placed there by members of the Wickenby Register, an association of former 12/626 Squadron personnel and associate relatives.

The north part of the former airfield is now known as Wickenby Aerodrome, which is a grass and concrete airfield.[6] A road from Holton cum Beckering to Snelland[7] runs right over the former airfield. Companies based at the airfield are Thruster Aircraft who make microlight planes; Fly365 Ltd who fly pleasure flights; and Rase Distribution - a haulage firm. Planes using the airfield have to make contact first with the control tower at RAF Waddington.

The Watch Office is the home of the RAF Wickenby Memorial Collection and the Wickenby Archive, a museum and collection of memorabilia and archive dedicated to the memory of the Squadrons who served here.

www.lesfaircloth.co.uk - The story of Leslie Faircloth and crew of 12 Squadron Bomber Command who flew around 17 operations from RAF Wickenby, mostly in Lancaster B Mk III ND424 'PH-G', during May and June 1944.

1.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period

2.
Runway
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According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a runway is a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. Runways may be a surface or a natural surface. Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the heading in decadegrees. This heading differs from true north by the magnetic declination. A runway numbered 09 points east, runway 18 is south, runway 27 points west, when taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane would be heading 90°. A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each separately, e. g. runway 33 in one direction is runway 15 when used in the other. The two numbers usually differ by 18, Runway Zero Three Left becomes Runway Two One Right when used in the opposite direction. In some countries, if parallel runways are too close to each other, at large airports with four or more parallel runways some runway identifiers are shifted by 10 degrees to avoid the ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, for clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually, runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in runway zero six or runway zero one left, is included for all ICAO, however, most U. S. civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield and this American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U. S. usage to airports around the world, for example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Runway designations change over time because the magnetic poles slowly drift on the Earths surface, depending on the airport location and how much drift takes place, it may be necessary over time to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, for example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233 degrees, it would be designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changed downwards by 5 degrees to 228, if on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226, and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224, the runway should become Runway 22. Because the drift itself is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon

3.
Concrete
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Concrete is a composite material composed of coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement that hardens over time. Most concretes used are lime-based concretes such as Portland cement concrete or concretes made with other hydraulic cements, when aggregate is mixed together with dry Portland cement and water, the mixture forms a fluid slurry that is easily poured and molded into shape. The cement reacts chemically with the water and other ingredients to form a matrix that binds the materials together into a durable stone-like material that has many uses. Often, additives are included in the mixture to improve the properties of the wet mix or the finished material. Most concrete is poured with reinforcing materials embedded to provide tensile strength, famous concrete structures include the Hoover Dam, the Panama Canal, and the Roman Pantheon. The earliest large-scale users of technology were the ancient Romans. The Colosseum in Rome was built largely of concrete, and the dome of the Pantheon is the worlds largest unreinforced concrete dome. Today, large concrete structures are made with reinforced concrete. After the Roman Empire collapsed, use of concrete became rare until the technology was redeveloped in the mid-18th century, today, concrete is the most widely used man-made material. The word concrete comes from the Latin word concretus, the passive participle of concrescere, from con-. Perhaps the earliest known occurrence of cement was twelve years ago. A deposit of cement was formed after an occurrence of oil shale located adjacent to a bed of limestone burned due to natural causes and these ancient deposits were investigated in the 1960s and 1970s. On a human timescale, small usages of concrete go back for thousands of years and they discovered the advantages of hydraulic lime, with some self-cementing properties, by 700 BC. They built kilns to supply mortar for the construction of houses, concrete floors. The cisterns were kept secret and were one of the reasons the Nabataea were able to thrive in the desert, some of these structures survive to this day. In the Ancient Egyptian and later Roman eras, it was re-discovered that adding volcanic ash to the mix allowed it to set underwater, similarly, the Romans knew that adding horse hair made concrete less liable to crack while it hardened, and adding blood made it more frost-resistant. Crystallization of strätlingite and the introduction of pyroclastic clays creates further fracture resistance, german archaeologist Heinrich Schliemann found concrete floors, which were made of lime and pebbles, in the royal palace of Tiryns, Greece, which dates roughly to 1400–1200 BC. Lime mortars were used in Greece, Crete, and Cyprus in 800 BC, the Assyrian Jerwan Aqueduct made use of waterproof concrete

4.
Lincoln, England
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Lincoln is a cathedral city and the county town of Lincolnshire, within the East Midlands of England. The non-metropolitan district of Lincoln has a 2012 population of 94,600, the 2011 census gave the entire urban area of Lincoln a population of 130,200. Lincoln developed from the Roman town of Lindum Colonia, which developed from an Iron Age settlement, Lincolns major landmarks are Lincoln Cathedral, a famous example of English Gothic architecture, and Lincoln Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle. The city is home to the University of Lincoln and Bishop Grosseteste University. See Lincoln City F. C. for Lincoln City Football Club, the earliest origins of Lincoln can be traced to the remains of an Iron Age settlement of round wooden dwellings that have been dated to the 1st century BC. This settlement was built by a pool in the River Witham at the foot of a large hill. The extent of original settlement is unknown as its remains are now buried deep beneath the later Roman and medieval ruins. The Celtic name Lindon was subsequently Latinised to Lindum and given the title Colonia when it was converted into a settlement for army veterans, the conversion to a colonia was made when the legion moved on to York in AD71. It became a flourishing settlement, accessible from the sea both through the River Trent and through the River Witham. Subsequently, however, the town and its waterways fell into decline, by the close of the 5th century the city was largely deserted, although some occupation continued under a Praefectus Civitatis, for Saint Paulinus visited a man of this office in Lincoln in AD629. During this period the Latin name Lindum Colonia was shortened in Old English to become first Lindocolina, after the first destructive Viking raids, the city once again rose to some importance, with overseas trading connections. After the establishment of the Danelaw in 886, Lincoln became one of the Five Boroughs in the East Midlands, excavations at Flaxengate reveal that this area, deserted since Roman times, received new timber-framed buildings fronting a new street system in about 900. Lincoln experienced an explosion in its economy with the settlement of the Danes. By 950, however, the banks of the Witham were newly developed with the Lower City being resettled and the suburb of Wigford quickly emerging as a major trading centre. In 1068, two years after the Norman conquest, William I ordered Lincoln Castle to be built on the site of the former Roman settlement, for the strategic reasons. The rebuilt Lincoln Minster, enlarged to the east at each rebuilding, was on a magnificent scale, its crossing tower crowned by a spire reputed to have been 525 ft high, the highest in Europe. When completed the central of the three spires is widely accepted to have succeeded the Great Pyramids of Egypt as the tallest man-made structure in the world, when Magna Carta was drawn up in 1215, one of the witnesses was Hugh of Wells, Bishop of Lincoln. One of only four surviving originals of the document is preserved in Lincoln Castle, theologian William de Montibus was the head of the cathedral school and chancellor until his death in 1213

5.
England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years

6.
Hangar
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A hangar is a closed building structure to hold aircraft, spacecraft or tanks in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other such as wood. The word hangar comes from Middle French hanghart, of Germanic origin, from Frankish *haimgard, from *haim, hangars are used for protection from the weather, direct sunlight, maintenance, repair, manufacture, assembly and storage of aircraft on airfields, aircraft carriers and ships. The Wright brothers stored and repaired their aircraft in a wooden hangar constructed in 1902 at Kill Devil Hills in North Carolina for their glider, after completing design and construction of the Wright Flyer in Ohio, the brothers returned to Kill Devil Hill only to find their hangar damaged. They repaired the structure and constructed a new workshop while they waited for the Flyer to be shipped, bleriot was in a race to be the first man to cross the English Channel in a heavier-than-air aircraft and set up his headquarters in the unused shed. In Britain, the earliest aircraft hangars were known as aeroplane sheds and these were built in 1910 for the Bristol School of Flying and are now Grade II* Listed buildings. Examples of the latter survive at Farnborough, Filton and Montrose airfields, during World War I, other standard designs included the RFC General Service Flight Shed and the Admiralty F-Type of 1916, the General Service Shed and the Handley Page aeroplane shed. Airship hangars or airship sheds are generally larger than conventional aircraft hangars, most early airships used hydrogen gas to provide them with sufficient buoyancy for flight, so their hangars had to provide protection from stray sparks to keep the gas from exploding. Hangars that held several airships were at risk from chain-reaction explosions, for this reason, most hangars for hydrogen-based airships were built to house only one or two such craft. During the Golden Age of airship travel from 1900, mooring masts and sheds were constructed to build, steel rigid airship hangars are some of the largest in the world. Hangar 1, Lakehurst, is located at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, the structure was completed in 1921 and is typical of airship hangar designs of World War I. The site is best known for the Hindenburg disaster, when on May 6,1937, Hangar No.1 at Lakehurst was used to build and store the American USS Shenandoah. The hangar also provided service and storage for the airships USS Los Angeles, Akron, Macon, as well as the Graf Zeppelin and the Hindenburg. The largest hangars ever built include the Goodyear Airdock measuring 1, 175x325x211 feet, the Goodyear Airdock, is in Akron, Ohio and the structure was completed on November 25,1929. The Airdock was used for the construction of the USS Akron and her sister ship, Hangar One at Moffett Federal Field, is located in Mountain View, California. The structure was completed in 1931, the US Navy established more airship operations during WWII. As part of this ten lighter-than-air bases across the United States were built as part of the defense plan. Hangars at these bases are some of the worlds largest freestanding timber structures, an alternative to the fixed hangar is a portable shelter that can be used for aircraft storage and maintenance

7.
Women's Auxiliary Air Force
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The Womens Auxiliary Air Force, whose members were referred to as WAAFs /ˈwæfs/, was the female auxiliary of the Royal Air Force during World War II, established in 1939. At its peak strength, in 1943, WAAF numbers exceeded 180,000, a Womens Royal Air Force had existed from 1918 to 1920. The WAAF was created on 28 June 1939, absorbing the forty-eight RAF companies of the Auxiliary Territorial Service which had existed since 1938, conscription of women did not begin until 1941. It only applied to those between 20 and 30 years of age and they had the choice of the services or factory work. WAAFs did not serve as aircrew, the use of women pilots was limited to the Air Transport Auxiliary, which was civilian. Although they did not participate in combat, they were exposed to the same dangers as any on the home front working at military installations. They worked with codes and ciphers, analysed reconnaissance photographs, WAAFs were a vital presence in the control of aircraft, both in radar stations and iconically as plotters in operation rooms, most notably during the Battle of Britain. These operation rooms directed fighter aircraft against the Luftwaffe, mapping both home and enemy aircraft positions, Air Force nurses belonged to Princess Marys Royal Air Force Nursing Service instead. Female medical and dental officers were commissioned into the Royal Air Force, WAAFs were paid two-thirds of the pay of male counterparts in RAF ranks. By the end of World War II, WAAF enrolment had declined, the remainder, now only several hundred strong, was renamed the Womens Royal Air Force on 1 February 1949. Initially, the WAAF used the ATS ranking system, although the director held the rank of Senior Controller instead of Chief Controller as in the ATS. From February 1940 it was no longer possible to directly as an officer. From July 1941 WAAF officers held full commissions, on 1 January 1943, the rank of Air Chief Commandant was created with the directors appointment to that rank. On 1 July 1939, Jane Trefusis Forbes was made Director of WAAF, with the rank of Senior Controller, later, on 1 January 1943 she was appointed to the rank of Air Chief Commandant with its creation. Forbes retired in August 1944, and the post of director was given to Mary Welsh, after the war, the rank of Air Chief Commandant was suspended and in December 1946, the final director of WAAF, Felicity Hanbury, was appointed. Section Officer Yvonne Baseden Section Officer Yolande Beekman, posthumously awarded the French Croix de Guerre, Flight Officer Alix DUnienville Flight Officer Krystyna Skarbek, awarded the OBE, George Medal and Croix de Guerre. Section Officer Mary Katherine Herbert Section Officer Phyllis Latour Section Officer Cecily Lefort, Section Officer Patricia OSullivan Sergeant Haviva Reik Assistant Section Officer Lilian Rolfe, posthumously awarded the MBE and the Croix de Guerre. Section Officer Diana Rowden, posthumously awarded the MBE and the Croix de Guerre, Section Officer Anne-Marie Walters, awarded the MBE

8.
No. 12 Squadron RAF
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No.12 Squadron of the Royal Air Force operates the Tornado GR4 from RAF Marham, having been re-formed on 9 January 2015. No.12 Squadron Royal Flying Corps was formed in February 1915 from a flight of No.1 Squadron RFC at Netheravon, the squadron moved to France in September 1915 and operated a variety of aircraft on operations over the Western Front. In March 1918 the squadron was re-equipped with the Bristol F2b Fighter just before becoming part of the newly formed Royal Air Force, the squadron, by then based at Bickendorf in Germany, was disbanded in 1922. The squadron re-formed at RAF Northolt on 1 April 1923 to operate the de Havilland DH. 9A, in 1924 it moved to RAF Andover and converted to the Fairey Fawn, a single-engined biplane bomber. e. In 1931 the squadron re-equipped with the Sydney Camm designed Hawker Hart, in October 1935 the squadron moved to the Middle East, but returned to Andover in August 1936. The Harts were replaced by the Hawker Hind in 1936 and in 1938 the squadron was equipped with Fairey Battles, on the first day of the Second World War the squadron moved to France to begin operations. On 12 May 1940, over the Albert Canal, Belgium, one bridge in particular was being used by the invading German army, with protection from aircraft, anti-aircraft. The RAF was ordered to demolish this vital bridge, and five Fairey Battles from the squadron were dispatched, unfortunately the leading aircraft and three others did not return. Flying Officer Garland and Sergeant Gray were both awarded the Victoria Cross. The squadron returned to England in June and it was stationed initially at RAF Finningley, arriving at RAF Binbrook in July 1940, when it was refurnished with Battles. Amongst other missions, it carried out strikes against shipping in Boulogne Harbour. The Squadron was one of the last No.1 Group units to conduct operations with Fairey Battles and these took place on 15/16 October 1940, when No.301 Squadron bombed Boulogne and Nos.12 and 142 Squadrons bombed Calais. By November 1940, the Squadron had been completely re-equipped with the Vickers Wellington, the squadron moved again in 1942, to RAF Wickenby, and soon after converted to operate the Avro Lancaster. In 1946 the squadron re-equipped with the Avro Lincoln until, in 1952, it joined the jet-age, after 44 years continuous service the squadron was again disbanded in July 1961. The advent of effective Soviet SAMs made high-flying bombers vulnerable, the squadron stood down from this role at the end of 1967. The squadron moved to RAF Lossiemouth in 1980, still in the same anti-shipping role, in 1993 it was disbanded once more. During December 1998, the Squadron took part in Operation Desert Fox, in 2006 and again in 2008 the Squadron provided armed overwatch for UK and US ground operations in Iraq. Shortly afterwards, as British troops withdrew from the country, the Tornado fleet based in the also returned to the UK

9.
Vickers Wellington
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The Vickers Wellington was a British twin-engined, long-range medium bomber. Other aircraft developed to the specification include the Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. During the development process, performance requirements such as for the tare weight changed substantially, the Wellington was widely used as a night bomber in the early years of the Second World War, performing as one of the principal bombers used by Bomber Command. During 1943, it started to be superseded as a bomber by the larger four-engined heavies such as the Avro Lancaster, the Wellington continued to serve throughout the war in other duties, particularly as an anti-submarine aircraft. It holds the distinction of being the only British bomber to be produced for the duration of the war, the Wellington remained as first-line equipment when the war ended, although it had been increasing relegated to secondary roles. The Wellington was one of two named after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, the other being the Vickers Wellesley. A larger heavy bomber designed to Specification B. 1/35, the Vickers Warwick, was developed in parallel with the Wellington. Many elements of the Wellington were also reused in a civil derivative, in October 1932, the British Air Ministry invited Vickers to tender for the recently issued Specification B. 9/32, which sought a twin-engine medium daylight bomber. This strength allowed for the design to be further developed to reduce the size of individual members. The Pegasus was selected as the engine for air-cooled versions of the bomber, on 28 February 1933, two versions of the aircraft, one with each of the selected powerplants, were submitted to the tender. In September 1933, the Air Ministry issued a contract for the Goshawk-powered version. Other refinements of the design had also implemented and approved, such as the adoption of variable-pitch propellers. By December 1936, the specification had been revised to include front, rear, other specification changes included modified bomb undershields and the inclusion of spring-loaded bomb bay doors. Design studies were conducted on behalf of the Air Ministry into the adoption of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. F. Andrews stated to be a high figure for a medium bomber of those days. During the development phase of the aircraft, the political and military situations in Europe drastically transformed, with the rise of fascist dictatorships in Germany and Italy, the British government had become keen to reevaluate the capabilities of the nations armed forces, including the Royal Air Force. In early 1936, a prototype, K4049, which was originally designated as a Type 271, was assembled. It had provisions for a crew of four, along with a position for performing special duties

10.
Avro Lancaster
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The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber designed and built by Avro for the Royal Air Force. The Lanc, as it was known, thus became one of the more famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers. The Lancaster, an evolution of the troublesome Avro Manchester, was designed by Roy Chadwick and was powered by four Rolls-Royce Merlins, or, in one version and this was the largest payload of any bomber in the war. In 1943, a Lancaster was converted to become an engine test bed for the Metropolitan-Vickers F.2 turbojet, Lancasters were later used to test other engines, including the Armstrong Siddeley Mamba and Rolls-Royce Dart turboprops, and the Avro Canada Orenda and STAL Dovern turbojets. Postwar, the Lancaster was supplanted as the RAFs main strategic bomber by the Avro Lincoln, the Lancaster took on the role of long range anti-submarine patrol aircraft and air-sea rescue. In March 1946, a Lancastrian of BSAA flew the first scheduled flight from the new London Heathrow Airport, the resulting aircraft was the Manchester, which, although a capable aircraft, was underpowered and troubled by the unreliability of the Vulture engine. Only 200 Manchesters were built, with the type withdrawn from service in 1942, at first the aircraft was called Avro Type 683 Manchester III and later renamed the Lancaster. The prototype aircraft BT308 was assembled by the Avro experimental flight department at Ringway Airport, test pilot H. A. Bill Thorn took the controls for its first flight at Ringway, on Thursday,9 January 1941. The aircraft proved to be an improvement on its predecessor. Some of the orders for Manchesters were changed in favour of Lancasters. The Lancaster discarded the stubby central third tail fin of the early Manchesters and used the wider span tailplane, the majority of Lancasters built during the war years were manufactured by Avro at their factory at Chadderton near Oldham, Greater Manchester and test flown from Woodford Aerodrome in Cheshire. Other Lancasters were built by Metropolitan-Vickers and Armstrong Whitworth, the Lancaster B III had Packard Merlin engines but was otherwise identical to contemporary B Is, with 3,030 B IIIs built, almost all at Avros Newton Heath factory. The B I and B III were built concurrently and minor modifications were made to both marks as new batches were ordered, of later variants, only the Canadian-built Lancaster B X, manufactured by Victory Aircraft in Malton, Ontario, was produced in significant numbers. The first Lancaster produced in Canada was named the Ruhr Express, the first batch of Canadian Lancasters delivered to England suffered from faulty ailerons. This was traced to the use of unskilled labourers, the Lancaster is a mid-wing cantilever monoplane with an oval all-metal fuselage. The wing was constructed in five sections, the fuselage in five sections. All wing and fuselage sections were built separately and fitted all the required equipment before final assembly. The tail unit had twin fins and rudders

11.
Berlin
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Berlin is the capital and the largest city of Germany as well as one of its constituent 16 states. With a population of approximately 3.5 million, Berlin is the second most populous city proper, due to its location in the European Plain, Berlin is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. Around one-third of the area is composed of forests, parks, gardens, rivers. Berlin in the 1920s was the third largest municipality in the world, following German reunification in 1990, Berlin once again became the capital of all-Germany. Berlin is a city of culture, politics, media. Its economy is based on high-tech firms and the sector, encompassing a diverse range of creative industries, research facilities, media corporations. Berlin serves as a hub for air and rail traffic and has a highly complex public transportation network. The metropolis is a popular tourist destination, significant industries also include IT, pharmaceuticals, biomedical engineering, clean tech, biotechnology, construction and electronics. Modern Berlin is home to world renowned universities, orchestras, museums and its urban setting has made it a sought-after location for international film productions. The city is known for its festivals, diverse architecture, nightlife, contemporary arts. Since 2000 Berlin has seen the emergence of a cosmopolitan entrepreneurial scene, the name Berlin has its roots in the language of West Slavic inhabitants of the area of todays Berlin, and may be related to the Old Polabian stem berl-/birl-. All German place names ending on -ow, -itz and -in, since the Ber- at the beginning sounds like the German word Bär, a bear appears in the coat of arms of the city. It is therefore a canting arm, the first written records of towns in the area of present-day Berlin date from the late 12th century. Spandau is first mentioned in 1197 and Köpenick in 1209, although these areas did not join Berlin until 1920, the central part of Berlin can be traced back to two towns. Cölln on the Fischerinsel is first mentioned in a 1237 document,1237 is considered the founding date of the city. The two towns over time formed close economic and social ties, and profited from the right on the two important trade routes Via Imperii and from Bruges to Novgorod. In 1307, they formed an alliance with a common external policy, in 1415 Frederick I became the elector of the Margraviate of Brandenburg, which he ruled until 1440. In 1443 Frederick II Irontooth started the construction of a new palace in the twin city Berlin-Cölln

12.
Munich
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Munich is the capital and largest city of the German state of Bavaria, on the banks of River Isar north of the Bavarian Alps. Munich is the third largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Hamburg, the Munich Metropolitan Region is home to 5.8 million people. According to the Globalization and World Rankings Research Institute Munich is considered an alpha-world city, the name of the city is derived from the Old/Middle High German term Munichen, meaning by the monks. It derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who ran a monastery at the place that was later to become the Old Town of Munich, Munich was first mentioned in 1158. From 1255 the city was seat of the Bavarian Dukes, black and gold—the colours of the Holy Roman Empire—have been the citys official colours since the time of Ludwig the Bavarian, when it was an imperial residence. Following a final reunification of the Wittelsbachian Duchy of Bavaria, previously divided and sub-divided for more than 200 years, like wide parts of the Holy Roman Empire, the area recovered slowly economically. In 1918, during the German Revolution, the house of Wittelsbach, which governed Bavaria since 1180, was forced to abdicate in Munich. In the 1920s, Munich became home to political factions, among them the NSDAP. During World War II, Munich was heavily bombed and more than 50% of the entire city, the postwar period was characterised by American occupation until 1949 and a strong increase of population and economic power during the years of the Wirtschaftswunder after 1949. The city is home to corporations like BMW, Siemens, MAN, Linde, Allianz and MunichRE as well as many small. Munich is home to national and international authorities, major universities, major museums. Its numerous architectural attractions, international events, exhibitions and conferences. Munich is one of the most prosperous and fastest growing cities in Germany and it is a top-ranked destination for migration and expatriate location, despite being the municipality with the highest density of population in Germany. Munich nowadays hosts more than 530,000 people of foreign background, the year 1158 is assumed to be the foundation date, which is the earliest date the city is mentioned in a document. The document was signed in Augsburg, by that time the Guelph Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony and Bavaria, had built a bridge over the river Isar next to a settlement of Benedictine monks—this was on the Old Salt Route and a toll bridge. In 1175, Munich was officially granted city status and received fortification, in 1180, with the trial of Henry the Lion, Otto I Wittelsbach became Duke of Bavaria and Munich was handed over to the Bishop of Freising. In 1240, Munich was transferred to Otto II Wittelsbach and in 1255, Duke Louis IV, a native of Munich, was elected German king in 1314 and crowned as Holy Roman Emperor in 1328. He strengthened the position by granting it the salt monopoly

RNZAF Wellington Mark I aircraft with the original turrets; anticipating war, the New Zealand government loaned these aircraft and their aircrews to the RAF in August 1939

A war time poster using a cutaway of a Vickers Wellington to illustrate how scrap and salvage was recycled for use in the production of war material. The poster expands on how different materials were used to make specific components of the bomber.